Ware stabilizer

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a ware stabilizer for use with a conventional push-type lehr loader by which glassware from a forming machine is transferred into the lehr. As the push bar of the loader engages a row of formed ware, on a suitable cross conveyor, to to push the ware into the lehr, a stabilizer bar on the loader, which has been clear of the ware, moves into contact with the upper portion of the glass articles to prevent them from falling forward. At the end of the pushing stroke the stabilizer bar swings in a limited vertical arc, insufficient to contact a previously loaded row of articles, clear of the ware just placed in the lehr, and then lifts with the pusher on which it is carried to clear the ware on the cross conveyor, and opens out to its starting position. A cam operated by the pusher in conjunction with a cam follower held against the caM by air cylinder controls the operation of the stabilizer bar.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Ronald M. Corbet Knox, Pa. [21] Appl. No. 820,170 [22] Filed Apr. 29, 1969 [45] Patented July 13, 1971 [73] Assignee Glass Containers Corporation Fullerton, Calif.

[54} WARE STABILIZER 6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[52] 11.8. CI 198/24, 198/31 [51] Int. CL 865g 47/00 [50] Field of Search 198/24, 31, 31 AA,31 AB, 221

[56] Referenm Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,983,593 12/1934 Beeson et a1 198/31 (A1) 1,998,163 4/1935 Meyer 198/31(Al) 2,094,497 9/1937 Ross 198/31 (A1) 3,040,867 6/1962 Postenetal. 3,184,031 5/1965 Dunlap ABSTRACT: There is disclosed a ware stabilizer for use with a conventional push-type lehr loader by which glassware from a forming machine is transferred into the lehr. As the push bar of the loader engages a row of formed ware, on a suitable cross conveyor, to to push the ware into the lehr, a stabilizer bar on the loader, which has been clear of the ware, moves into contact with the upper portion of the glass articles to prevent them from falling forward. At the end of the pushing stroke the stabilizer bar swings in a limited vertical arc, insufficient to contact a previously loaded row of articles, clear of the ware just placed in the lehr, and then lifts with the pusher on which it is carried to clear the ware on the cross conveyor, and opens out to its starting position. A cam operated by the pusher in conjunction with a cam follower held against the caM by air cylinder controls the operation of the stabilizer bar.

PATENTED JUL 1 319 7:

SHEET 1 [1F 3 "II llll-x INVENTOR. RONALD M. CORBET A! torneys PATENTED JUL 1 3:971

SHEEI 2 OF 3 INVE/V TOR. 3; flO/VAL o M CORBET I torn eys PATENTEU JUL 1 am SHEET 3 OF 3 .7 M M 5 Wm w G W M 0 L A N M 0 R WP mm 2 mm .3 (B mm vn .2 .Gmm mu 3 i 4 xv 1 kw wv 2 kn mw 2 R \E m Nu vw A Horneys WARE STABILIZER SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the loading of formed glassware into annealing lehrs, and is for a stabilizer for mounting on a push-type loader to stabilize the ware against falling over while it is being pushed from a transfer conveyor into the lehr.

The invention is especially useful in the manufacture of bottles and like articles of glassware that are relatively tall compared to the base diameter, such as are many bottle designs, and therefore easily toppled over. Bottles may be hereinafter particularly referred to as illustrative of such ware, and not as excluding other ware.

In a typical glassware manufacturing plant, the bottles. are delivered from the forming machine onto a conveyor. The lehr in which the bottles are to be annealed is nearby and to one side of the forming machine. A transverse conveyor receives the bottles and moves the bottles or other ware into position across the front of the lehr, the bottles being in a single line. When a predetermined number of bottles are lined up on the transfer conveyor, which is continuously moving, a pusher moves the row tranversely off the moving conveyor and across a fixed dead-plate onto a moving lehr conveyor that carries the ware continuously through the lehr. The pusher then swings upwardly in a vertical arc and retracts over the top of the transfer conveyor at a height sufi'icient to clear the next line of bottles already forming on the transfer conveyor. The pusher then lowers to its startingposition and is ready to repeat the cycle.

Many bottles are toppled over when they are initiallyengaged by a pusher. In plants which make unstable bottles or other ware such toppling is the principal source of loss of the bottles. Often a high percentage of the bottles formed are toppled over and broken.

Various attempts have heretofore been made to provide some means to prevent or substantially reduce such loss,';but

so far as I am aware they have not been satisfactory, even though highly sophisticated, and have certainly not been generally adopted in the industry. The difficulty lies in the-fact that a stabilizer to prevent toppling over of the ware, must be clear of the bottles when they are moving into line on-the transfer conveyor in front of the lehr,.then must move into contact with the upper portions of the bottle asthe pushing begins, move with the pusher over the dead-plate and over the receiving end of the lehr conveyor, then move clear ofLthe ware on the lehr conveyor without contacting the bottlesof a previously placed row, and move back to the starting position.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple, relatively inexpensive attachment for a conventional pushtype lehr loader which performs these operations precisely and without complicated mechanism or circuitry.

Briefly, the stabilizer of the invention comprises an outrigger extending from the front of the pusher frame on which is carried a rock shaft parallel with, but forwardly of, the pusher bar. Vertically adjustable dependingarms on'the rock shaft carry a stabilizing bar, also parallel with, but in front of, the pusher, that can be moved toward and away from the ware by rotating the rock shaft. A piston and cylinder on the pusher frame is connected through' linkage with-the rock shaft to rock it one direction or the other. This pistonalso has connected therewith a cam follower that regulates the travel of the piston, and this follower is engaged in a cam slot ofa cam that is pivoted on the pusher frame and engaged with anontraveling part of the pusher structure in such manner that the cam rotates in one direction as the pusher movesout, and in the opposite direction as it is retracted.

The width of the cam slot is narrower at one end than the other, and so limits the travel of the piston to alesserdistance at the forward end of the pusher travel'than at the rear end. This allows the stabilizer bar to swing only in a small are at the forward end of the pusher travel to,.clear the ware that has just been pushed onto the lehr conveyor, but not enoughtocontact the row of ware which has been previously deposited, then to swing out to its furthest limit as the pusher moves to the retracted position and thereby be entirely clear of the oncoming bottles or other ware on the transfer conveyor.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention may be more fully understood by reference to the accompanying drawings showing a presently preferred embodiment thereof, andin which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a customary plant layout with the forming machine, conveyors, lehr entrance and loader;

FIG. 2 is-a top plan view of the loader stabilizer unit of this invention with the pusher retracted;

FIG. 3 isa side elevation of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a plan view similar to FIG. 2 with the pusherex tended;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary schematic view of the stabilizer showing its three positions.

DETAILEDDESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring first'to FIG. 1, the glassware forming machine is schematically indicated at 2, the conveyor for moving ware away from the forming machine is 3, and 4 is the-transverse transfer conveyor for carrying the ware sideways-from the conveyor 3 and lining it up in front of the lehr. The'l ehr being indicated at 5. The dead-plate at the front of the lehr over which the ware is pushed from the conveyor 4 onto the traveling lehr conveyor 6 is designated 7. A typical pusher is indicated at 8. It will be observed that while the front end of the pusher is parallel with the conveyor 4, the operating unit is at an angle thereto. With this in mind, the other figures-of the drawings will be more easily understood, because a side view of the'entire pusher will show the front end at an angle. The arrangement here'shown is a typical arrangement and'is illustrated only to make the subsequent description more easily understood.

Referring now to the remaining figures of the drawings, the pusher itself, as best shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, is of-a form well-known inthe'art, and the drawings are simplified to show only the parts necessary to an explanation of the invention. Designated generally as 8, the pusher has a frame structure 9-, herein called-a fixed frame, in which is mounted a fluid pressure cylinder 10 having a piston rod 11 extending rearwardly therefrom, and which is attached at 12 to the rearend of a carriage 13 that is guided by rollers 14 in the fixed frame 9 forreciprocal horizontal travel in the fixed frame.

At the opposite or forward end of the carriage-l3there are forwardly projecting portions 13a, only one of which can be seen in FIG. 3. The portion 13a on the near side of the carriage 13 is longer than the unseen portion 13a at'the other side. The outer ends of these portions 13a are connected'to' depending arms 15, the lower ends of which are connected to an angle-shaped pusher bar I6. It will be seen that the pusher bar 16 is at an angle relative to the longitudinal'axis of the cylinder l0-and to the'fixed frame 13, 13a although his parallel with'the transfer conveyor 4 as hereinbe'fore explained.

In the operation of the pusher bar 16, fluid pressure introduced-into the right end of the cylinder 10, as vie 'we'din FIGS. 2 and 3, moves the piston rod 11 to the left, thereby} thrusting the carriage I3 with its pusher bar 1'6'tothe left, across the transverse conveyor 4 and dead-plate 7 farenough to transfer arow of bottles or other articles from the conveyor 4 ontothe receiving end of the lehr conveyor 6. Since other bottles are being carried along the conveyor 4 while thismovement is takingplace, the withdrawal of thepusher must clear the oncoming. ware, a suitable hydraulic jack, indicated at 20, is energized to raise the fixed frame 9, 9a afiaanaehed retract thy carriage l3 and pusher bar 16. The cylinder is then deactivated to return the frame 9 to normal position.

According to the present invention an upright supporting structure is mounted on the carriage 13 for movement therewith, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. It includes uprights 22 and top side bars 23 and 24 positioned directly above the depending arms 15. Side bar 23 projects further to the front than bar 24, and each of the bars have angularly turned end portions 23' and 24', respectively. The upright supporting structure also includes a crossbar 25, to the rear of which is a top plate 26. There is a centrally located longitudinal strip or plate 27 extending between the crossbar and the top plate 26.

There is a substantially semicircular cam disc 30 pivotally supported on the top plate 26 with its pivotal axis 31 located in the plane of the longitudinal axis of the carriage. It has an arcuate cam slot 32 therein generally concentric about the axis of rotation of the cam 30, and of an arcuate length greater than 90, the length depending on the distance the pusher moves from a retracted to an extended position. There is a lug 33 on the periphery of the cam 30 on which is a roller 34 that fits in a slot 35 in an arm 36 which overhangs the top of the upright frame on the carriage. and which is fixed on an upright support 37 on the fixed frame of the loader. The cam 30 moves back and forth in an arc with the carriage, while the slotted arm 36 is fixed, so that the cam 30 is rotated in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2 as the carriage moves forward, and is rotated in a counterclockwise direction when the carriage is retracted from the extended position shown in FIG. 5 to that shown in FIG. 2.

There is a cam follower in the cam slot 32 in the form of a roller 40 carried on a pin 41 on the end ofa bifurcated link 42, while a second roller 43 on the same pin 41 extends down into a guide slot 44 in the plate 27 to prevent sidewise movement of the cam follower 40 and the link 42 so that the link 42 has only a rectilinear travel relative to the cam. The other end of the link 42 is also bifurcated and is pivotally connected at 45 to a lever 46. The end of this lever 46 is pivotally connected at 50 to a clevislike fitting on a piston rod 51 extending from a piston in a small fluid pressure or air cylinder 52 pivotally mounted in the upright frame on the carriage at 53.

The short end of the lever 46 beyond the pivot pin 47 is pivotally connected at 54 to one end of a link 55. The other end of this link 5 is pivotally connected at 56 to a bifurcated arm 57 fixed to a rock shaft 58 that is rotatably supported in the angular terminal portions 23 and 24' of the top bars 23 and 24 of the upright frame. At each projecting end of the rock shaft 58 there is clamped for vertical adjustment a depending rod 59, and these rods are fixed to a horizontally extending stabilizer bar 60, which may simply be a rod metal bar wrapped with asbestos. As clearly seen in FIG. 3, the rock shaft 58 and the stabilizer bar 60 are forward of the pusher 16, but parallel with it.

Referring to FIG. 2, it will be seen that the cam slot 32 is generally wider than the diameter of the cam follower 40, but at the starting end of the slot, which is the end in which the pusher is retracted, is effectively narrowed by an adjustable cam plate 32a clamped to the underside of the cam disc to the width of the roller, and this adjustable plate has a slope at 32b that in effect opens the cam slot to its full width.

The opposite or terminal end of the cam slot has a narrower portion 32c which, however, is slightly wider than the diameter of the roller or follower 40, but whereas plate 32a limits the movement of the follower radially toward the center of the cam, portion 320 limits the follower from radial movement outward away from the center.

In operation, with the parts in the position shown in FIG. 2, the cam follower 40 is confined against the outer wall of the cam slot 32 when the pusher is retracted, and the linkage to the rock shaft is such that the stabilizer bar 60 is swung to its furthest limit of movement away from the plane of the pusher, that is, the dotted line position furthest to the left in the diagram in FIG. 6. In this position it is well clear of the bottles which are being carried on the transverse conveyor in front of the pusher.

As the pusher 116 starts to move forward, cylinder 52 is energized to urge the cam follower dill toward the right as viewed in FIG. 2, but it is restrained by the supplemental adjustable cam 32a. However, as the carriage 13 moves forward, the cam 32 rotates in a clockwise direction until the cam follower 40 can ride inwardly under the influence of cylinder 52 to the full inner boundary of the cam slot. This moves lever 46 to the right, moving link 55 toward the left, swinging the stabilizer bar 60 to the right to engage the bottles on the transverse conveyor just about the same time that the pusher 16 engages the bottles, and prevents the bottles from tipping forward. This is the position furthest to the right in FIG. 6. When the bottles have been pushed onto the lehr conveyor 6 close to a previously placed row, cylinder 52 is energized from the opposite end to urge the cam follower against the outer wall of the cam slot 32. The cam 30 is then in the position shown in FIG. 5, and the follower can move only a slight distance because of the narrow width of the terminal, end of the cam slot, thereby swinging the stabilizer bar 60 away from the ware enough to clear it when the loader is raised for the return travel of the carriage. As the carriage returns, the cam 32 rotates so that the follower 40, under the urging of the fluid pressure in cylinder 52, can move against the outermost boundary of the cam slot 32 where it opens the stabilizer bar to the position first described, so that as the carriage is lowered for the next cycle of operation, the stabilizer bar will not strike or obstruct the ware on the conveyor 4.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that while a single cam 30, with its adjustable piece 3217 has been described the inner boundary of the cam slot constitutes one cam surface that is used on the forward stroke of the pusher, and the outer boun-' dary is a second cam surface effective on the back stroke. Also, the cam is not utilized in the usual manner of transmitting motion to a part to be moved, but the cylinder 52 and its piston actually move the stabilizer bar t5, while the cam 30 is a means to limit the extent of the movement of the rock shaft and stabilizer bar.

Since the entire stabilizer mechanism is made a part of the loader and arranged to operate with the back-and-forth movement of the pusher l3, and the operation of the cam 30 results from the movement of the pusher, problems heretofore encountered of synchronizing the stabilizer with the pusher are avoided, and a simple mechanical device that involves little expense replaces much more sophisticated and complicated apparatus hereinbefore proposed for the purpose. if the ware were always of one size, shape, and height, and every loader was exactly the same and exactly positioned with respect to the transfer conveyor 4, the cam slot could be made of the proper shape, but by using the adjustable auxiliary cam element 32!) the stabilizer can be quickly and positively adjusted to compensate for such variation, so that exact formation of the cam to the requirements of each machine or each size of ware is not necessary. Since only very slight movement of the stabilizer bar 60 away from the ware at the end of the pushing stroke is necessary, the stopping end of the cam does not ordinarily require any similar adjustment as that provided by element 3211 at the starting end of the cam. The stabilizer bar can be adjusted up or down for different heights of ware by adjusting the supporting bars 59 up or down in the rock shaft by utilizing set screws at 59a. The energizing of the cylinder 52 may be accomplished by limit switches or valves (not shown) but responsive to the travel of the carriage in the fixed frame in a manner well understood in the art. Since movement of the stabilizer is controlled by the cam, these switches do not need to be exactly set.

I claim:

l. The combination with a lehr loader comprising a fixed frame structure with a reciprocal carriage therein and means for reciprocating the carriage, the carriage having a pusher at its forward end, of a ware stabilizer mounted on the carriage and operated in response to movement of the carriage comprising:

a. a rock shaft supported on the carriage above the pusher,

b. a stabilizer bar suspended from the rock shaft above and forwardly of the pusher and parallel therewith,

c. a fluid pressure cylinder and piston unit on the carriage operatively connected with the rock shaft to oscillate the same and thereby move the stabilizer bar toward or away from the vertical plane of the pusher,

d. movable means on the carriage arranged to be moved by operation of the carriage for limiting the movement of rock shaft under the operation of the cylinder and piston unit according to the position of carriage relative to the fixed frame, said movable means comprises a rotatable cam with a cam slot therein and cooperating means on the carriage and fixed frame for effecting rotation of the cam upon movement of the carriage relative to the fixed frame, and a cam follower in the cam slot connected with the cylinder and piston unit whereby the movement of the cam follower is controlled by the contour of the cam slot.

2. Combination as defined in claim 1 wherein the stabilizer bar is vertically adjustable.

3. Combination as defined in claim 7 wherein said fixed frame structure and reciprocal carriage therein have associated therewith means for bodily raising the lehr loader above the height of ware on the cross conveyor before retracting the loader and returning it to normal position to move additional ware into the lehr.

4. Apparatus for transferring a plurality of spaces longitu dinally aligned ware from a first moving conveyor to a second moving conveyor comprising:

a. a rigid housing disposed at one end of said first moving conveyor for vertical reciprocation relative to said first moving conveyor,

b. a rigid member mounted within said housing and extending longitudinally therethrough for longitudinal reciprocation relative to said housing and transversely of said first moving conveyor,

c. means on said housing for imparting longitudinal reciprocal movement to said rigid members,

. pusher means on said rigid member for moving ware off said first conveyor onto said second conveyor,

. said pusher means including a stabilizer bar for engaging over the front face of said ware to prevent toppling thereof during transfer thereof to said second conveyor,

f. drive means on said rigid member operatively connected with said stabilizer bar to oscillate the same and thereby move the stabilizer bar toward and away from said pusher means, and

g. movable means on the rigid member arranged to be moved by operation of the rigid member for limiting the movement of the stabilizer bar under operation of the drive means according to the position ofthe rigid member relative to the rigid housing. said movable means including a cam member and cooperating means on the rigid member and rigid housing for effecting movement of the cam upon movement of the rigid member relative to the rigid housing and a cam follower cooperating with the cam surface connected with said drive means whereby movement of the cam follower is controlled by the contour of the cam surface.

5. In a lehr loader of the class described wherein a suitable base structure has a reciprocal frame structure mounted thereon and is provided with means for reciprocating said frame structure relative to said base for slidably moving a plurality of transversely aligned ware from a moving cross conveyor onto an annealing lehr conveyor for passage through said lehr, the combination with said frame structure of,

a. a rock shaft disposed transversely of the forward end of said frame structure,

b. a ware stabilizer depending from said rock shaft in overlapping relation to the upper portion of said ware during movement onto said lehr conveyor to prevent forward toppling of the ware,

c. a substantially semicircular cam disc pivotally mounted upon the top face of said frame structure on the longitudinal axis thereof and having a cam slot therein of an arcuate len th reater than a slotted ug rxed to said base structure overlying one end of said cam and a lug on said end of said cam mounting a roller received in said slotted lug for longitudinal movement related thereto,

e. a roller mounted on said reciprocal frame structure and received within said cam slot for movement longitudinally of said slot during rotation of the cam,

. a lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends upon the forward end of said frame structure with one end of said lever pivotally connected with a forwardly extending member connected with said rock shaft and the opposite end of the lever pivotally connected with an arm extending to said cam slot roller for longitudinal reciprocation relative to said frame structure for actuating said rock shaft, whereby forward movement of the reciprocal frame structure lowers the stabilizer bar into a position in front of the ware being loaded into the lehr and rearward movement of the reciprocal frame structure raises the stabilizer bar above the tops of the ware during retraction of said pusher.

6. Apparatus as defied in claim 5, wherein said base structure embodies means for bodily raising the forward end of said reciprocal frame structure during initial retraction thereof to clear the tops of oncoming ware upon said cross conveyor and to lower the reciprocal frame structure to normal position for moving said oncoming ware onto the lehr conveyor. 

1. The combination with a lehr loader comprising a fixed frame structure with a reciprocal carriage therein and means for reciprocating the carriage, the carriage having a pusher at its forward end, of a ware stabilizer mounted on the carriage and operated in response to movement of the carriage comprising: a. a rock shaft supported on the carriage above the pusher, b. a stabilizer bar suspended from the rock shaft above and forwardly of the pusher and parallel therewith, c. a fluid pressure cylinder and piston unit on the carriage operatively connected with the rock shaft to oscillate the same and thereby move the stabilizer bar toward or away from the vertical plane of the pusher, d. movable means on the carriage arranged to be moved by operation of the carriage for limiting the movement of rock shaft under the operation of the cylinder and piston unit according to the position of carriage relative to the fixed frame, said movable means comprises a rotatable cam with a cam slot therein and cooperating means on the carriage and fixed frame for effecting rotation of the cam upon movement of the carriage relative to the fixed frame, and a cam follower in the cam slot connected with the cylinder and piston unit whereby the movement of the cam follower is controlled by the contour of the cam slot.
 2. Combination as defined in claim 1 wherein the stabilizer bar is vertically adjustable.
 3. Combination as defined in claim 7 wherein said fixed frame structure and reciprocal carriage therein have associated therewith means for bodily raising the lehr loader above the height of ware on the cross conveyor before retracting the loader and returning it to normal position to move additional ware into the lehr.
 4. Apparatus for transferring a plurality of spaces longitudinally aligned ware from a first moving conveyor to a second moving conveyor comprising: a. a rigid housing disposed at one end of said first moving conveyor for vertical reciprocaTion relative to said first moving conveyor, b. a rigid member mounted within said housing and extending longitudinally therethrough for longitudinal reciprocation relative to said housing and transversely of said first moving conveyor, c. means on said housing for imparting longitudinal reciprocal movement to said rigid members, d. pusher means on said rigid member for moving ware off said first conveyor onto said second conveyor, e. said pusher means including a stabilizer bar for engaging over the front face of said ware to prevent toppling thereof during transfer thereof to said second conveyor, f. drive means on said rigid member operatively connected with said stabilizer bar to oscillate the same and thereby move the stabilizer bar toward and away from said pusher means, and g. movable means on the rigid member arranged to be moved by operation of the rigid member for limiting the movement of the stabilizer bar under operation of the drive means according to the position of the rigid member relative to the rigid housing, said movable means including a cam member and cooperating means on the rigid member and rigid housing for effecting movement of the cam upon movement of the rigid member relative to the rigid housing and a cam follower cooperating with the cam surface connected with said drive means whereby movement of the cam follower is controlled by the contour of the cam surface.
 5. In a lehr loader of the class described wherein a suitable base structure has a reciprocal frame structure mounted thereon and is provided with means for reciprocating said frame structure relative to said base for slidably moving a plurality of transversely aligned ware from a moving cross conveyor onto an annealing lehr conveyor for passage through said lehr, the combination with said frame structure of, a. a rock shaft disposed transversely of the forward end of said frame structure, b. a ware stabilizer depending from said rock shaft in overlapping relation to the upper portion of said ware during movement onto said lehr conveyor to prevent forward toppling of the ware, c. a substantially semicircular cam disc pivotally mounted upon the top face of said frame structure on the longitudinal axis thereof and having a cam slot therein of an arcuate length greater than 90*, d. a slotted lug fixed to said base structure overlying one end of said cam and a lug on said end of said cam mounting a roller received in said slotted lug for longitudinal movement related thereto, e. a roller mounted on said reciprocal frame structure and received within said cam slot for movement longitudinally of said slot during rotation of the cam, f. a lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends upon the forward end of said frame structure with one end of said lever pivotally connected with a forwardly extending member connected with said rock shaft and the opposite end of the lever pivotally connected with an arm extending to said cam slot roller for longitudinal reciprocation relative to said frame structure for actuating said rock shaft, whereby forward movement of the reciprocal frame structure lowers the stabilizer bar into a position in front of the ware being loaded into the lehr and rearward movement of the reciprocal frame structure raises the stabilizer bar above the tops of the ware during retraction of said pusher.
 6. Apparatus as defied in claim 5, wherein said base structure embodies means for bodily raising the forward end of said reciprocal frame structure during initial retraction thereof to clear the tops of oncoming ware upon said cross conveyor and to lower the reciprocal frame structure to normal position for moving said oncoming ware onto the lehr conveyor. 